EUROPEAN UNION: Nov. 12 - Meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels, expected to discuss the situation in Greece, as well as in Spain. Nov. 13 - Meeting of all EU finance ministers in Brussels. Nov. 22-23 - Summit of EU heads of state and government in Brussels to discuss EU long-term budget. Dec. 3 - Meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels. Dec. 4 - Meeting of all EU finance ministers in Brussels. Dec. 13-14 - Summit of EU heads of state and government in Brussels.

GREECE: POLITICS: - Greece has been granted its long-standing wish for additional time to push through austerity cuts and is ready to put the contested package to a parliamentary vote next week, its finance minister said on Wednesday. - After months of wrangling on the package of spending cuts and reforms, Athens declared success on several fronts by saying the near-bankrupt country had won additional concessions from its lenders and largely wrapped up talks on the austerity plan.

GENERAL/POLITICAL EVENTS: - Greece's unions are planning anti-austerity strikes when the government votes on the measures in parliament in the coming weeks. They have said they would join trade unions in both Spain and Portugal, which have called a general strike for Nov. 14. ECONOMIC INDICATORS: Oct. 31 - Aug Retail Sales y/y Nov. 8 - Aug Unemployment

ITALY: - Local elections in Sicily on Sunday will provide an early taste of the mood among Italian voters just five months before parliamentary elections to choose a successor to Prime Minister Mario Monti's technocrat government. - With former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi now out of the race, following his withdrawal on Oct. 24, much of the focus after the Sicilian vote will be on how his struggling People of Freedom (PDL) party does, and on the showing of comic Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement. - The Democratic Party (PD), Berlusconi's rival on the left, is holding a primary vote on Nov. 25 to choose its candidate. The main contenders are the PD's current secretary Pier Luigi Bersani, Florence mayor Matteo Renzi, and Left Ecology and Liberty (SEL) party leader Nicchi Vendola. DEBT ISSUES: Oct. 29 - Treasury to auction short-term bills (BOTs) Oct. 30 - Treasury to auction medium and long-term debt (BTPs and CCTEU)

PORTUGAL: - Portugal's EU, ECB and IMF lenders agreed in September to give the country more time to meet the bailout's budget deficit targets, easing this year's and next year's goals after tax revenues fell amid the recession. - The economy is expected to contract about 3 percent in 2012 after a drop in output of 1.6 percent in 2011. The government has recently revised next year's outlook to a 1 percent contraction from small growth. The new deficit goal is 5 percent and 4.5 percent in 2012 and 2013 respectively. - The government insists it does not need any additional rescue funds and will return to bond markets in late 2013 as envisaged by the bailout programme. It presented 2013 draft budget with heavy tax hikes on Oct. 15 to meet the bailout goals. POLITICS: Oct. 30 - Parliament starts debate on 2013 draft budget. Oct. 31 - Parliament to vote on draft budget in first reading. Junior coalition members CDS-PP have said they will seek to improve aspects of the budget, but will vote for it so as not to create a political crisis. Nov. 12 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits, meets Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho. Protests planned in Lisbon. Nov. 14 - General strike organised by the country's largest union, the CGTP. Nov. 27 - Likely final vote on 2013 budget. Late November - Bailout inspectors start sixth quarterly evaluation mission in Lisbon. GOVERNMENT DEBT SUPPLY: Nov. 21 - IGCP debt agency offers 1.75 billion to 2 billion euros in 3-, 6- and 18-month Treasury bills in an auction. Dec. 19 - IGCP debt agency offers 1.5 billion to 1.75 billion euros in 6- and 12-month Treasury bills in an auction.

FRANCE: - Both houses of parliament have ratified the European Union budget discipline pact and it is now awaiting President Francois Hollande's signature. - The bill comprising measures needed to implement the pact has been adopted in the lower house and is due to be put to a vote in the Senate on Oct. 28, where the last step of the approval process is not seen facing any obstacle.

IRELAND: - Ireland passed the latest quarterly review of its 85 billion euro EU/IMF bailout on October 25. Officials from the ECB, European Commission and IMF will return for their next review in January. - Troika officials are assisting Ireland in the drafting of proposals to ease the terms of its expensive bank bailout after leaders agreed to look into it at June's EU summit. - Ireland's debt agency sold new long-term government bonds for the first time since before its EU/IMF bailout at the end of July, the most significant step in a bid to avert a 2014 funding cliff that threatened to leave it needing extra aid. Events: Oct. 29 - German fin min Wolfgang Schaeuble meets his Irish counterpart in DublinOct 31 - Deadline for Ireland to review its growth forecasts with a downgrade expected Data: Nov 1 - Jobless claims Source: Reuters Bureaux (Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)